The 2021 Formula 1 World Championship Thread

[Hansworst]

This year no calendar because that will change from week to week.
Will change the colors after the reveals.

As always here is an overview of the teams and drivers:


Teams:

Team: Scuderia Ferrari
Constructor: Ferrari
Chassis: SF21
Power Unit: Ferrari
Drivers:

• 55 Carlos Sainz Jr.
• 16 Charles Leclerc

Team: Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team
Constructor: Racing Point-Mercedes
Chassis: TBA
Power Unit: TBA
Drivers:

• 5 Sebastian Vettel
• 18 Lance Stroll

Team:Haas F1 Team
Constructor: Haas-Ferrari
Chassis: TBA
Power Unit: Ferrari
Drivers:

• 9 Nikita Mazepin
• 47 Mick Schumacher

Team: McLaren F1 team
Constructor: McLaren
Chassis: MCL35M
Power Unit: Mercedes
Drivers:

• 4 Lando Norris
• 3 Daniel Ricciardo

Team: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
Constructor: Mercedes
Chassis: F1 W12 E Performance
Power Unit: Mercedes
Drivers:

• 44 Lewis Hamilton
• 77 Valtteri Bottas

Team: Red Bull Racing
Constructor: Red Bull Honda
Chassis: RB16B
Power Unit: Honda
Drivers:

• 11 Sergio Perez
• 33 Max Verstappen

Team: Alpine F1 team
Constructor: Alpine-Renault
Chassis: A521
Power Unit: Renault
Drivers:

• 14 Fernando Alonso
• 31 Esteban Ocon

Team: Alfa Romeo Racing
Constructor: Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
Chassis: C39
Power Unit: Ferrari
Drivers:

• 7 Kimi Räikkönen
• 99 Antonio Giovinazzi

Team: Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda
Constructor: AlphaTauri-Honda
Chassis: TBA
Power Unit: Honda
Drivers:

• 10 Pierre Gasly
• 22 Yuki Tsunoda

Team: Williams Racing
Constructor: Williams-Mercedes
Chassis: FW43B
Power Unit: Mercedes
Drivers:

• 6 Nicholas Latifi
• 63 George Russell

Feel free to discuss!

[Bigbazz]

Hamilton champion, Verstappen 2nd, Bottas/Perez/Leclerc fighting over 3-5th. Looking forward to this year, but I don't predict any big shifts, the only interesting discussion is how will Mclaren show up given as far as I'm aware they've been able to build a somewhat new car around the new engine, while other teams have mostly needed to stay with the same chassis but while adapting the new aero restrictions.

I don't have much hope in Mclaren though, they've messed up new car concepts so many times in the last 2 decades, and if it's just a 2020 type car with a Mercedes shoved in there that leaves them just where they were in the midfield.

[SirReal]

Hamilton champion, Verstappen 2nd, Bottas/Perez/Leclerc fighting over 3-5th. Looking forward to this year, but I don't predict any big shifts, the only interesting discussion is how will Mclaren show up given as far as I'm aware they've been able to build a somewhat new car around the new engine, while other teams have mostly needed to stay with the same chassis but while adapting the new aero restrictions.

I don't have much hope in Mclaren though, they've messed up new car concepts so many times in the last 2 decades, and if it's just a 2020 type car with a Mercedes shoved in there that leaves them just where they were in the midfield.

Is that the team that had the Honda engine disaster and had to switch?

[Bigbazz]

Is that the team that had the Honda engine disaster and had to switch?

I guess you're new-ish to F1?

In 2009 after having just won the championship in 2008 (albiet drivers, not constructors) they missed the ball and turned up with a turnip of a car for the new regulations that took over half a season to fix. In 2012 they had the best car on the grid but dropped the championship with reliability and pitstop errors, but by the end of the season they were just super solid and the car was a rocketship, everyone thought Lewis Hamilton was crazy to leave for Mercedes.

So obviously in 2013 they completely redesigned their car and abandoned its entire concept to turn up with a car that was much slower than the 2012 car. Then in 2015 they swapped from Mercedes to Honda. Ron Dennis specifically had talked up how amazing the engine was going to be and how special their concept was, but it just caused the engine to overheat and they blamed Honda while trying to say the chassis was amazing. Honda spent years trying to get the engine to generate power without overheating and failing.

Then Honda went to Torro Rosso, engine issues solved and then Mclaren looked dumb because they now had a Renault engine and they still sucked. They finally overcame those issues after losing Fernando Alonso and in 2020 they had a decent car, but now they are switching back to Mercedes and due to switching engine have some extra leeway in car design compared to other teams.

So it remains to be seen, can Mclaren build from last season or will they mess it up again?

Edit : Speaking of which.

[Ayirasi]

Ooh, three car reveals. Not looking too shabby with the liveries.

I'm anxious to see how Ricciardo and the new PU fare in the McLaren. Hopefully Honda and Ferrari made gains in their PUs. A repeat of last season's tight fight for 3rd in the WCC would be welcome. It wouldn't surprise me if Alonso dragged his Renault into the mix.

ninjaedit: Bummer about Alonso and not being at Alpine's launch next week.

fakeedit: Kyvatt reserve for Alpine? Interesting. The metallic / satin blue on the car render looks nice. Hope it pops on the actual car.

The Merc looks like a, um... Merc. Still a fan of the teal on black. Very TRON. I wonder how may races it will take for Bottas to drop 100+ to Lewis this season.

moar edits! MOAR!!

That Aston looks sharp! Similar bulge on the engine cover as the Merc, but the rest of the car doesn't look like the copy-paste from last season. Hope it treats Vettel better than the Ferrari.

even moar edits: Haas and Williams liveries look rather bland. Won't matter so long as their performance improves and they can scrap for some points.

a-a-and the Ferrari is a nice range of reds. The splash of green is doing an annoying simultaneous contrast thing.

[Hansworst]

So Mercedes sandbagging again. What a surprise.

[Ayirasi]

Gearbox issues for Bottas, and all that sand on the track made Hamilton look like he forgot how to brake, but yeah... they were pretty far off the pace.

That blue on the Alpine really pops. The pink on the Aston and green on the Ferrari still don't look right.

[Kallisto]

Sad news to start the season with, Murray Walker the voice of F1 in the UK from the 1970s until early 2000s has died at the age of 97

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/56388596

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

So Mercedes sandbagging again. What a surprise.

This time the sandbags were so full that they burst all over the track

[Ayirasi]

Murray lived an awesome life. His commentary was legendary. RIP.

[Bigbazz]

Murray Walker's commentary is my childhood, he's a legend. He had a good run at 97 too, may he rest in peace.

[Ayirasi]

Barely woke up and saw it on the F1 site... RIP, Sabine Schmitz.

[StillMcfuu]

Barely woke up and saw it on the F1 site... RIP, Sabine Schmitz.

It was sudden (to me), I didn't even know she had cancer, let alone has been battling for years now.

[Ayirasi]

It was sudden (to me), I didn't even know she had cancer, let alone has been battling for years now.

Yeah, I had completely forgotten about it over the past couple years. Funny, cute, and quick.

[Ayirasi]

Surprising omissions from a mostly decent Drive to Survive Season 3. Hard not to choke up while watching Grosjean's accident and his wife.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Surprising omissions from a mostly decent Drive to Survive Season 3. Hard not to choke up while watching Grosjean's accident and his wife.

Yeah that was really hard to watch and I knew he made it out. The coverage of Gasly's win at Monza mostly made up for it though.

I think I preferred it when they kept mostly to the chronological order last year. I lost count of how often Crofty introduced the British Grand Prix.

[Ayirasi]

I think I preferred it when they kept mostly to the chronological order last year. I lost count of how often Crofty introduced the British Grand Prix.

Ugh... Croft and Brundle. Not a fan of them or the way the series bounced around the timelines.

I'm surprised the series didn't hype the drama of Honda leaving F1 or the return of Alonso, among the many, many other things they left out.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Ugh... Croft and Brundle. Not a fan of them or the way the series bounced around the timelines.

I'm surprised the series didn't hype the drama of Honda leaving F1 or the return of Alonso, among the many, many other things they left out.

Yeah, or even once in one of the dozen or so times they showed Silverstone, Hamilton driving around with only three wheels.

[Ayirasi]

I've not watched F1 for years (apart from a bit of Spa last year). Didn't realise they'd binned off fuel stops, that's how out of touch I am.

What's with the numbering? Drivers and branding? In my day, when we were walking backwards uphill in the snow to a black and white Silverstone, teams had 1&2, 3&4, 5&6 etc.

Little brother and his mates are bang into it, so I've decided I might actually... yknow... watch. Maybe.

Lots to unpack.

It should be worth watching this season. Slight regulation changes to the floor seems to have tightened up the field, and loosened Mercedes' grip.

Drivers pick their numbers and keep them. Williams got sold. McLaren was garbage for a while, but seem to have improved. Ferrari are coming off their worst season in forever. Haas joined F1 a few years back and showed promise for a US team, but got worse, and now they look like a Russian flag. Michael Schumacher's kid is making his debut. Honda came back as an engine supplier, but are leaving... again. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton (he got knighted) have been the yardstick for the better part of a decade, and look to break Ferrari and Schumacher's championship records.

There's more, but that's a taste.

[Ayirasi]

Tense qualifying. Tomorrow is looking good.